reflections: nespresso snobbery
snob
n.
1. One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors.
2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.
It’s amazing to me how quick I am to hold a snobby view on something that I once deemed as satisfying.
Yes, I am sad to admit it, but since my nespresso machine arrived in my household, the darling percolator has lost all appeal. I realised this as I stood in the kitchen desperately desiring a coffee and yet not wanting to wake the child. My highly prized nespresso is noisy therefore I would be forced to go with what has so quickly become, in my mind, the lesser option. I couldn’t do it. But as I stood there shocked and appalled, and slightly amused, at how quickly I had become so snobby on this matter, I realised that its not only in small matters of material things that this attitude manifests.
I’ve been pondering on this reality in many ways for quite some time, but not until my nespresso aha moment did I realise how true this phenomenon is. I don’t know what it is about human nature, excuse me, MY nature, but it seems when I’ve come into an ‘upgrade’ I so easily disregard what was ‘former’ as lesser. This takes many forms: material possessions, parenting strategies, political viewpoints, matters of faith and so forth. And I’m not saying that upgrades are wrong. In fact this is the natural way of life and growth and maturity. But what I do see as wrong is the air of superiority that so sneakily and easily comes in.
It’s so easy for me to feel as if I’ve got the best of something. The best coffee machine(!), the best idea, the best point of view, the best way to discipline, etc, etc… And while that may be true(!), should this in any way hinder my view of or relational abilities with others? It’s at this point that I’ve got Scripture reverberating through my head…
Smack. There it is. It seems that as a disciple of Jesus there is no room for snobbery. It’s okay for me to consider what I have as good, or even as better than what I had before, but am I to think that the point of view that I hold somehow makes me better than someone else? Isn’t this where relational fraction and tension come from?
How then to live? Lets bring it back to the darling percolator. I will no longer look down upon it for its inferior coffee making abilities. Although I will continue to choose the nespresso as the superior way for me, I will value the many years I had with the percolator and the many friends who still hold it in esteem.
